Forward!

Boniface Wimmer’s attempts to get Saint Vincent elevated to the rank of an Abbey, and to allow for the appointment of an Abbot went to Rome, where he put forth:

“It is undeniably inherent in the nature of the situation, and supported by the history of all Orders, [Fr. Boniface argued] that his foundation would not be able to exist in isolation. It had life and energy, and these, in turn, would bring about life. Regardless of whether he would remain in charge or if it would be another, “Forward!” would have to be the motto of any superior of St. Vincent! Anyone who would calmly contemplate the situation would eventually also have to come to this exclamation: “The harvest is great and the laborers are few,” and these few are not always the best and most skilled. However, even if there were many, duty and the instinct for self-preservation would force them to spread out and to take firm root in a large area, so that the first storm or blast of wind would not knock the tree down and uproot it.”

—Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B.

—From Boniface Wimmer, Abbot of Saint Vincent in Pennsylvania, translated by Dr. Maria Von Mickwitz and Father Warren Murrman, O.S.B., editor.